Nov 6, 2015 | By Alec
Cats are somewhat of a paradox in human life. We love them and they look adorable, but they are indifferent towards us and reward our generosity by destroying our toilet rolls and knocking over our drinks. Have you ever come home to find a toilet paper massacre in your bathroom? Fortunately, if you own a 3D printer you can finally fight back against your furry adversary. A frustrated cat owner called Johnny Lawrence has shared 3D printable designs for a toilet paper guard, that is guaranteed to be claw proof.
Jonny himself understands the woes of cat owners, because he is one. ‘Our (now 6 month old) kitten Mochi loves to destroy the toilet paper any chance he can get. This is my attempt at out smarting him, and it seems to have worked so far,’ he says of his creation. Johnny is an engineer over at GE Aviation, and is very familiar with 3D printing technology, so he came up with what he calls the Kitten Proof Toilet Paper Guard.
They look innocent enough, but are killers.
As you can see in the clip below, it’s essentially a four-piece container for toilet roll that features a sliding door to allow non-claw humans to access the paper. It is completed with a grip pad that can be bought at Home Depot or similar hardware stores. Once you’re done, just close the door and protect the precious cargo within. It should fit most regular toilet paper rolls, though Johnny admits it can get a bit snug when filled with a completely full roll.
If you’re interested, head over to Thingiverse here to get your hands on the 3D printable files. Johnny adds that you’re welcome to tinker and improve the files as well. He has 3D printed all parts in PLA, with support being needed for the ‘Toilet Roll Protector Slide’. Raft settings don’t matter, he adds. Upon completion, you will need to do a bit of sanding to get a good finish on the sliding door. ‘It will depend on what resolution you print at. I printed everything at .3 (just to quicken the process) and I had to sand a bit to get the action of the mechanism to be smooth,’ Johnny says. The rest of the parts can be assembled with glue.
The results, you’ll find, are definitely worth it. Usually, we see 3D printing projects intended to help animals, but the Kitten Proof Toilet Paper Guard proves that we can also use it to protect ourselves from them.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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